It's been fun

Well with everyone moving away latelly I figured the b-body scene for New England must have died and I got out of it.

Ok so I really didn't since Laura has the '94 L99 now, which I drive and repair as much as if it were mine

But I did replace my Lesabre with a vehicle that isn't a b-body and doesn't pretend to be. It's obnoxious, has 4 doors even though I didn't want another 4-door, has a vinyl top even though I said I would refuse any car with the crap top, and it has a few holes in it that I know of and a few more that I can see starting. And did I mention the interior is wrecked and I can't drive it until I fix the oil leak

Anyway, for 1 week we had a fleet here which made for a good photo-op

Sure looks big in the background

Looks pretty dang big next to the others

And yes from the right angle a boxy can actually disappear

Welcome to the world of the 1973 Buick Electra 225 4-door hardtop. It's a no post car which made me decide that a 4-door was acceptible. And it has a fairly healthy drivetrain which made me decide to take on the challenge of such a substantial car with so many needs. I'd like to officially announce that I'm now one of the very few in the club running a big block thanks to this Buick 455 backed by a th-400. With that in mind most of you will never see it in person since events only happen in NH and a 3-speed on a 455 equates to something like a tank of gas every 3 blocks

GuestGuest

Subject: Re: It's been fun Wed Oct 13, 2010 7:57 pm

Doesn't look anything like a pick up truck other than size. You get lost on your way to buy a pick up?

Matt Trakker

Posts : 5086Join date : 2009-07-30Age : 36Location : Reading, MA

Subject: Re: It's been fun Wed Oct 13, 2010 8:08 pm

Dude, AWESOME. Might not techinically be a B-body, but a C-body's not much different.

I saw that car on CL, the "Texas car". Would you laugh if I told you I almost flipped one of these (it was brown with beige interior) on 495 in Hudson about 6 years ago when I was test driving the car without the owner present?

bammax

Posts : 2301Join date : 2009-02-22Age : 36Location : Mansfield, Ma

Subject: Re: It's been fun Wed Oct 13, 2010 8:08 pm

I got a 455/th400 with 80,200 miles on it for a grand. Can't beat a deal like that. Basically I bought the drivetrain and it cames packaged in a giant blue case

I may clean up the car and get some years out of it, or I may run it till it falls apart and then extract the drivetrain for install into a lighter weight Buick. I'm not sure which way to go until I drive it a bit and see how I feel about it.

bammax

Posts : 2301Join date : 2009-02-22Age : 36Location : Mansfield, Ma

Subject: Re: It's been fun Wed Oct 13, 2010 8:11 pm

Matt Trakker wrote:

Dude, AWESOME. Might not techinically be a B-body, but a C-body's not much different.

I saw that car on CL, the "Texas car".

It's really a Texas car too. The inspection sticker expires this month. And it still has the community college parking sticker on it from 1978

I owned a 1972 Buick Electra, 2 door hardtop (yikes, it was almost 40 years ago). That was a pretty good car, I drove it across country, 13 to 14 mpg tops. I was driving to Eastern Washington, which I didn't realize was a desert and got to 120 degrees in the summer. The car had vinyl seats. I had to have them reupholstered in cloth, as you couldn't sit on them. That car would make my RMW look like a VW, it was huge. Mine also had the 455, I didn't think it was a 400 tranny, but it may have been.

Sometime when I'm down to see my mother in Pembroke, I will come over to see it.

Tom

Last edited by silverfox103 on Thu Oct 14, 2010 6:15 am; edited 1 time in total

GuestGuest

Subject: Re: It's been fun Wed Oct 13, 2010 8:25 pm

My uncle had one of those. It was brown I think. Not sure the engine size because I was too young. More pics please.

Matt Trakker

Posts : 5086Join date : 2009-07-30Age : 36Location : Reading, MA

Subject: Re: It's been fun Wed Oct 13, 2010 8:38 pm

Wow, I'm surprised it's survived this long if it was some college kid's car in 1978!

The one I looked at was in the old WantAds, out in Marlboro. It was in real nice shape with shiny paint, interior was mint without even a cracked dash, had new exh manifold gaskets and a bunch of other work done, but the trunk wouldn't open because someone tampered with the lock. I took it with my dad up on 495, took an exit to get off, and didn't realize I was still going 70 MPH.

Does it have that little warning buzzer on the speedometer you can set? How's it look underneath?

Billy I think all Electras had the 455 in that vintage, but I'm not certain!

BoSStonsSS

Posts : 770Join date : 2009-01-22Age : 30Location : BOSTON,MA

Subject: Re: It's been fun Wed Oct 13, 2010 8:42 pm

WOW! nice find now throw some d's on that hoe lol

GuestGuest

Subject: Re: It's been fun Wed Oct 13, 2010 9:03 pm

It looks like it should have wheel skirts.

bammax

Posts : 2301Join date : 2009-02-22Age : 36Location : Mansfield, Ma

Subject: Re: It's been fun Wed Oct 13, 2010 9:10 pm

From '71-'76 the 455 was standard equipment. the only difference came in single or dual exhaust.

This one was bought new in '73 by a Texas lady who owned it and drove it well into her 70's. She died and a nephew got it and started cleaning it up, then he drove it up here and gave it to his brother. That's who I bought it from. It's only been up here for a couple months and never seen snow. Even has the "southern" sun damaged paint

The front edge of the hood is getting crusty. There's a hole in the trunk where the wheelwell meets the floor, and the vinyl top looks like a sack of marbles from all the rust underneath. I really want to fix it up but it needs all new rubber and the weatherstripping for this car costs a fortune and isn't super easy to come by. I figure I can afford to fix the trunk and put new stripping on it, then I'll run out of funds to be able to do the rest

I agree with Billy C. Why bother wasting the 59 like that...They could have just used the Drivers Ed videos to show that they were death traps lol

M.ROSS

Posts : 443Join date : 2009-01-21Age : 58Location : So.Portland/ME

Subject: Dare to be different Thu Oct 14, 2010 2:37 am

Bradley you are definitley a unique individual.They have the dare to be different section in i think HOT ROD.YOU could do a whole book all by yourself.MY first official car was a gold Buick electra 225. 1972 i think .Purchased for 300 in 1979.The trunk on that thing could hold 4/5 bodys.How much you think this one will get you on the scales.LOL

Welcome to the world of the 1973 Buick Electra 225 4-door hardtop.....With that in mind most of you will never see it in person since events only happen in NH and a 3-speed on a 455 equates to something like a tank of gas every 3 blocks

Nice. Closest I came was a 76 Toronado. When you stomp on it, its nice on everything but your walletNH runs will be no problem. With that car you can load it with parts & be the delivery guy.A tankful divided into multiple parts is painless

M.ROSS wrote:

Bradley you are definitley a unique individual.

Aint THAT the truth

M.ROSS wrote:

The trunk on that thing could hold 4/5 bodys....

Is that four fifths of a body? Cause if your cutting up bodies & putting them in the trunk, thats just sick

If you meant 4 or 5 bodies, then thats OK & your probably right and never mind my comment above.

The trunk is big enough that I need to climb inside to tie down the jack. The Cappy was almost as bad, but on this car it's more of a requirement than an option

I spent a little time today taping off the windows and around a couple of the doors to keep the water out during the big storm that's coming in over night. I'm going to do my best to slow the cars death as much as possible. I figure with enough bondo and paint I can sell it to some guy with a hotrod shop and make a bit of pocket change in the deal

Got the trans leak fixed. Got the oil leak partially fixed. Replaced a blown oil pressure sensor. Still working on replacing all the burnt out bulbs. Still need to fix the power steering leak. Need to do a better job fixing the wipers. Need to replace the locks. Then it'll be roadworthy.

On a funny note. The engine holds 5 qts of oil if you count 1 for the filter. I drained 10 qts and spilled another 2 on the ground when my more than big enough catch pan wasn't big enough. I'm guessing they did an oil change and forgot to drain the old oil first

I can't wait to get this thing inspected and on the road. It's alot more fun hitting the gas in drive instead of in park.

HA right? I went to Jiffy Lube once they forgot to put my oil filler cap back on when I went back they wouldn't give my money back but offered me a coupon for a free oil change... I shoulda framed it.

sdstick

Posts : 4287Join date : 2009-03-20Location : Revere, MA

Subject: Re: It's been fun Thu Oct 21, 2010 11:13 am

They pay tons of money in seized motor claims due to stuff like that.The oil cap isnt as bad as forgetting to put the drain plug back in.Thats why they do that call & response check procedure while your there.I always liked when I asked them if they greased the top ball joints & they say yesIf they didnt ask me to turn the wheel, they didnt grease them cause that guy in the pit cant do it.

Yup. between a blown pressure sensor and having way to much oil in it there was no choice but to "purge" itself. The only problem is now all the seals are drippy from being submerged in the stuff for too long. Hopefully they'll dry out at some point so that I don't have to replace them over the winter. The timing cover and oil pan gaskets both require the old "lift motor" deal and that just isn't happening where I live.

bammax

Posts : 2301Join date : 2009-02-22Age : 36Location : Mansfield, Ma

Subject: Re: It's been fun Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:00 pm

Got the car inspected today so it's finally legit. Got it all paid off too.

The car has now been driven and is legit for cruising. I just can't do it yet because the thing needs a bit of work before it's even close to reliable.

Here's the breakdown:It's hard to start, misses slightly at idle, stumbles at light throttle, diesels at shut down, occasionally blows smoke through the carb after shut down, and doesn't like to shift through the gears.

I'm guessing points/timing is off and the carb needs to be cleaned/adjusted. The trans issue looks like it could be the vaccuum to the modulator but I haven't verified it yet. On the plus side when the car is in the right gear and I hit the throttle it's hard to believe the car is as big as it is. That speedo needle flies when the pedal is down